Am I going to regret trying out the "One bike to rule them all" experiment? Or have you used a gravel/allroad bike to truly do it all? Share your experiences here in the comments!
I also stripped the parts off my road bike to build a gravel bike and love it. I run proper gravel tires on one wheelset that I can hit singletrack on and big slicks, 35-40mm like the slick gravel king for road for all day comfort on carbon rims and it has been fantastic. I think a 35 gp5000 all season or 34mm Corsa pro would be a good choice on the road wheelset since you have the clearance.
That’s actually what I was thinking! Obviously I’ll have my gravel wheels set with fast gravel tires, but on my road set I think I’m going with either a 32 or 34 Corsa Pro. I’m running 26mm Corsa’s now until I get my team discount set to order a new set in the bigger size.
I bought a 2020 Giant Revolt Adv. Pro Force back in the Spring of 2020. I had the intention of one-biking. I got a set of dedicated gravel wheelset along with a road wheelset. Aside for having to constantly switch wheels and having a bit of compromise handling with 28c tire I think it is viable option. Of course I messed it all up when I went 1x on it with Force XPLR... Finally, last Spring I bought a road bike but then my wife was one-biking and I was still having to swap wheels... Now she has a road bike too. Try it out and see if it works for you.
Yeah I know the wheel swapping might get annoying. But so is cleaning 2 drivetrains, washing two bikes, replacing double the bearings, etc. I think it’s worth trying. I’m not 100% convinced the Exploro is the best solution though. There are some fantastic bikes, like the Wilier Rave SLR that would probably be much better than my Exploro. If I feel like it’s going to work, I might just end up with a frame set change for next year to level up my one bike build.
My 3T Exploro Ultra comes close to being one bike to rule them all. See post below. However, I use a Cervelo Aspero as my road bike, because it’s a better road bike than the 3T. But it’s not as versatile as the 3T. The Aspero is an excellent road bike and gravel race bike. But the 3T is more fun to ride.
Firstly, it’s excellent to see a properly cabled 3T. The top tube brake line is a non-issue when it’s kept short like this. It’s actually neater like this than into any downtube IMO. I ride a 3T Exploro Ultra with SRAM ‘Feagle' Mullet - Force 40t chainring on wide cranks with 10-52 / XX1 rear. All brilliant, but oddly noisy at the front when the chain gets dusty. I use three different wheelsets. 1. Road 700c with 38mm slicks / semi-slicks. 2. Gravel 700c with 40-45mm gravel tyres. 3. The original 650b wheels with the fat Barzos. On road with 38’s it’s a road rocket, not discernably slower than my road bike with 32mm tyres, and more comfortable and versatile. On gravel it’s brilliant. Off road on 650b’s its brilliant on MTB trails except for technical trails. 3T bikes are seriously underrated.
I agree. Sounds like a solid set up you have. Personally I still think a 40-10 big gear is a bit too small for road riding but if it suits your needs, that’s fantastic!
👍🏻 It’s more the 40-52 that I need for the hills as my poor old legs age! :) not that holding 45km/hr on the flat in 40-10 is realistic for me these days either! Downhills are for recovery!
I hear that! When I did BWR Kansas a few years ago I realized that riding up a hill after 10 miles feels a lot different than the same hill after 80 miles. It was then that I realized a sub 1:1 was needed for long races.
Absolutely! …and just wait, when you reach your mid 50’s that same hill in your 30’s and 40’s requires an even easier gear! :) …in my 20’s-30’s I rode a 36-23 up any hill! 😂
Hello, All the changes make complete sense for a "do-it-all' bike. I'm still in favor of the 1x, but mainly for looks and simplicity. Keep us posted! Cheers, Jorge
Thanks for watching and commenting! I’ll agree, the 1x is a simple set up and looks clean. But the range of the 2x and much closer gear spacing make it much better for road in my opinion. And, I went out and claimed my first Strava KOM today on the Exploro in road set up. So it can’t be that much worse.
That would be a nice thought, but I unfortunately it’s a half a country away and the budget won’t allow for that kind of trip this year. I’m planning to do Big Sugar and Gravel Nationals as they’re both relatively close. I’ll be at Unbound but not racing this year. Going to volunteer this year and secure a registration for 2025.
Hello! I have the 3T Strada and the 1-chainring has been a headache since I bought it. I am now finally geting 12 speed giving me that wider gear range that hopefully will allow me to ride it everywhere. In my opinion, the 1-by is ok if you're training alone, but not suited for group rides and races, where you have to go at speeds that you're not comfortable at. So your change to 2-by is a big improvement. A gravel bike is certainly suited to road riding, but in my opinion, the position should be changed. When I use my cyclocross bike on the road I switch the 11cm stem to a 12cm stem and lower the stem 1cm. You can also raise your saddle a few mm.
Good feedback! I couldn’t imagine a 1x only dedicated road bike. But, 12 speed helps for sure. As for the position on the gravel bike, you’re absolutely right about adjusting the position. I have my position almost a match for my road race bike. I have a 100mm -17 stem on it to give it more of a stretched out racing position.
I have the exact same bike. I'm surprised how much slower it is as a road bike. Mine is currently setup for road. Same wheels. Im on the stock drivetrain but, swapped to a GRX clutch rear derail. Never had any drop issues. I am thinking of buying a road bike.
I’m glad you haven’t had chain drop issues. It was significant for a long time for me until I changed a bunch around. I’ve measured the difference between my road bike and the Exploro and there was a considerable difference. But some part of me feels like it shouldn’t be that far off. That’s why I swapped all of my road bike gear to it.
@@JMCyclingVideos are you sitting more upright on your gravel? They say body position is the greatest obstacle as far as aerodynamics. Did you have a issue with the Assioma pedals?
I actually set up the position to be near identical to my road race set up. Normally on a gravel bike you’d have a shorter reach and higher stack, but the Exploro is pretty aggressive and I added a long stem and slammed the front to get it a lot closer to a road position. So that shouldn’t be too far off. And as for the Assiomas, no I didn’t have an issue. But, I only had Uno, so it was single sided. The Quarq is a spider based so it measures both sides.
@@JMCyclingVideos I did almost the exact same thing. Longer stem, narrow road bars. I have the same pedals, Uno. I was going to swap them into some X Pedo M Force 8s I'm still surprised the difference was so great. That road bike is sounding more appealing now.
To be fair, I did my comparison when it was much closer to standard., normal bars and such. I’ve since added narrower aero handle bars and some lighter parts like the carbon saddle. So it could very well be closer than when I did my measured test. I ran some crit laps with my team in gravel set up (they were on road bikes) and it wasn’t as bad as expected.
Am I going to regret trying out the "One bike to rule them all" experiment? Or have you used a gravel/allroad bike to truly do it all? Share your experiences here in the comments!
I also stripped the parts off my road bike to build a gravel bike and love it. I run proper gravel tires on one wheelset that I can hit singletrack on and big slicks, 35-40mm like the slick gravel king for road for all day comfort on carbon rims and it has been fantastic. I think a 35 gp5000 all season or 34mm Corsa pro would be a good choice on the road wheelset since you have the clearance.
That’s actually what I was thinking! Obviously I’ll have my gravel wheels set with fast gravel tires, but on my road set I think I’m going with either a 32 or 34 Corsa Pro. I’m running 26mm Corsa’s now until I get my team discount set to order a new set in the bigger size.
I bought a 2020 Giant Revolt Adv. Pro Force back in the Spring of 2020. I had the intention of one-biking. I got a set of dedicated gravel wheelset along with a road wheelset. Aside for having to constantly switch wheels and having a bit of compromise handling with 28c tire I think it is viable option. Of course I messed it all up when I went 1x on it with Force XPLR... Finally, last Spring I bought a road bike but then my wife was one-biking and I was still having to swap wheels... Now she has a road bike too. Try it out and see if it works for you.
Yeah I know the wheel swapping might get annoying. But so is cleaning 2 drivetrains, washing two bikes, replacing double the bearings, etc. I think it’s worth trying. I’m not 100% convinced the Exploro is the best solution though. There are some fantastic bikes, like the Wilier Rave SLR that would probably be much better than my Exploro. If I feel like it’s going to work, I might just end up with a frame set change for next year to level up my one bike build.
My 3T Exploro Ultra comes close to being one bike to rule them all. See post below.
However, I use a Cervelo Aspero as my road bike, because it’s a better road bike than the 3T. But it’s not as versatile as the 3T.
The Aspero is an excellent road bike and gravel race bike. But the 3T is more fun to ride.
Firstly, it’s excellent to see a properly cabled 3T. The top tube brake line is a non-issue when it’s kept short like this. It’s actually neater like this than into any downtube IMO.
I ride a 3T Exploro Ultra with SRAM ‘Feagle' Mullet - Force 40t chainring on wide cranks with 10-52 / XX1 rear. All brilliant, but oddly noisy at the front when the chain gets dusty.
I use three different wheelsets.
1. Road 700c with 38mm slicks / semi-slicks.
2. Gravel 700c with 40-45mm gravel tyres.
3. The original 650b wheels with the fat Barzos.
On road with 38’s it’s a road rocket, not discernably slower than my road bike with 32mm tyres, and more comfortable and versatile. On gravel it’s brilliant. Off road on 650b’s its brilliant on MTB trails except for technical trails.
3T bikes are seriously underrated.
I agree. Sounds like a solid set up you have. Personally I still think a 40-10 big gear is a bit too small for road riding but if it suits your needs, that’s fantastic!
👍🏻 It’s more the 40-52 that I need for the hills as my poor old legs age! :) not that holding 45km/hr on the flat in 40-10 is realistic for me these days either! Downhills are for recovery!
I hear that! When I did BWR Kansas a few years ago I realized that riding up a hill after 10 miles feels a lot different than the same hill after 80 miles. It was then that I realized a sub 1:1 was needed for long races.
Absolutely! …and just wait, when you reach your mid 50’s that same hill in your 30’s and 40’s requires an even easier gear! :) …in my 20’s-30’s I rode a 36-23 up any hill! 😂
Hello,
All the changes make complete sense for a "do-it-all' bike. I'm still in favor of the 1x, but mainly for looks and simplicity.
Keep us posted!
Cheers,
Jorge
Thanks for watching and commenting! I’ll agree, the 1x is a simple set up and looks clean. But the range of the 2x and much closer gear spacing make it much better for road in my opinion. And, I went out and claimed my first Strava KOM today on the Exploro in road set up. So it can’t be that much worse.
Do you plan to attend this year's edition of the Sea Otter Classic, gravel or other event?@@JMCyclingVideos
That would be a nice thought, but I unfortunately it’s a half a country away and the budget won’t allow for that kind of trip this year. I’m planning to do Big Sugar and Gravel Nationals as they’re both relatively close. I’ll be at Unbound but not racing this year. Going to volunteer this year and secure a registration for 2025.
Hello! I have the 3T Strada and the 1-chainring has been a headache since I bought it. I am now finally geting 12 speed giving me that wider gear range that hopefully will allow me to ride it everywhere. In my opinion, the 1-by is ok if you're training alone, but not suited for group rides and races, where you have to go at speeds that you're not comfortable at. So your change to 2-by is a big improvement. A gravel bike is certainly suited to road riding, but in my opinion, the position should be changed. When I use my cyclocross bike on the road I switch the 11cm stem to a 12cm stem and lower the stem 1cm. You can also raise your saddle a few mm.
Good feedback! I couldn’t imagine a 1x only dedicated road bike. But, 12 speed helps for sure. As for the position on the gravel bike, you’re absolutely right about adjusting the position. I have my position almost a match for my road race bike. I have a 100mm -17 stem on it to give it more of a stretched out racing position.
I have the exact same bike. I'm surprised how much slower it is as a road bike. Mine is currently setup for road. Same wheels. Im on the stock drivetrain but, swapped to a GRX clutch rear derail. Never had any drop issues. I am thinking of buying a road bike.
I’m glad you haven’t had chain drop issues. It was significant for a long time for me until I changed a bunch around. I’ve measured the difference between my road bike and the Exploro and there was a considerable difference. But some part of me feels like it shouldn’t be that far off. That’s why I swapped all of my road bike gear to it.
@@JMCyclingVideos are you sitting more upright on your gravel? They say body position is the greatest obstacle as far as aerodynamics. Did you have a issue with the Assioma pedals?
I actually set up the position to be near identical to my road race set up. Normally on a gravel bike you’d have a shorter reach and higher stack, but the Exploro is pretty aggressive and I added a long stem and slammed the front to get it a lot closer to a road position. So that shouldn’t be too far off. And as for the Assiomas, no I didn’t have an issue. But, I only had Uno, so it was single sided. The Quarq is a spider based so it measures both sides.
@@JMCyclingVideos I did almost the exact same thing. Longer stem, narrow road bars. I have the same pedals, Uno. I was going to swap them into some X Pedo M Force 8s
I'm still surprised the difference was so great. That road bike is sounding more appealing now.
To be fair, I did my comparison when it was much closer to standard., normal bars and such. I’ve since added narrower aero handle bars and some lighter parts like the carbon saddle. So it could very well be closer than when I did my measured test. I ran some crit laps with my team in gravel set up (they were on road bikes) and it wasn’t as bad as expected.